A/n: Written for the Cinema Competition for Avatar, the Holiday Spirit: Christmas Boot Camp prompt #44 (trips) and the Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp prompt #33 (believe).

Flying in Fear

"You're really slow, you know that?"

"I didn't realize I was asking for your help!" she grunted as they ran. For once in their career Hermione let Draco lead them headfirst into an investigation, deciding for himself that renegade Death Eaters were a force that could not be reasoned with. Of course, he bullied his way into the hideout all guns blazing just so they could be shot at.

Sometimes she really hated her partner. He could be such a pain. Not only was he rather irrational at a time like that but he also led them into a room with five lethal Death Eater's all too eager to kill them. It was a game of wits to just stay alive.

Draco almost died last week while they were on the job. Their boss would lose his mind when he heard that they went through another near death experience so soon after.

Then again, they had to live through this first in order to get scolded. Hermione kept thinking of things to say to him as they made their escape, four attackers in pursuit. She took one down back in the original room, accidently dropping a heavy tomb on his head. Well, it made for one less fiend to fight.

"So any plans?" she hissed as they ran, dodging hexes. "You're last one just turned out so well."

"Hey, we had to act fast or they would've had the upper hand on us!"

"Malfoy, I'm pretty sure they still have the upper hand! "

"Fine then Granger, you come up with a plan!"

She raked her brain, trying to come up with a solution that might not get them both killed. "Up here! The wards around this place make it impossible for anyone to apparate in and out. We need to barricade a door and get out our port key. It'll buy us enough time to get out of this mess!"

He grunted. "Whatever you say!"

They slid in together to the nearest room, the Death Eater's close behind. Using their combined magic they managed to barricade the entrance before putting up as many spells as they could. Hermione glanced back behind them and winced.

"You would pick the room that's been blown in half."

He looked over his shoulder as well, spying the missing half of the room. "Well, that's inconvenient."

"Never mind that, the barricade won't hold for long. Get the port key out Malfoy- we have to abort this mission if we intend to get out with our lives."

"Whatever you say," he agreed, digging through his pocket. A moment later he pulled out the port key, smirking as he held it up. "And you thought I would lose it."

"Don't be- look out!"

She dodged the incoming bird, firing a hex up at the creature as it snatched their port key from Malfoy's unsuspecting fingers. They fired hexes up at the creature, but like a well-trained dog, it knew just how to dodge every single attack. They watched it drift up into the air until it disappeared.

"You've got to be kidding me," Hermione muttered, shaking her head. "A bird just flew off with our escape!"

"It's probably the pet of one of the Death Eater's- though I've never seen a wizard train a hawk. It's really weird."

"I know." She glanced over her shoulder at the weakening wards. "Oh great, we really are going to die here!"

"Not exactly," he said awkwardly, looking skyward. "There is one other way out of this."

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's use it and get out of here!"

"Right… um, just one thing Granger."

"Can't it wait? Our lives are at stake here!"

He groaned, producing a second item from his pocket. Mindful that a hawk just flew off with the shiny pocket-watch that was supposed to be their port key, he returned the item to it's original size, watching Hermione's eyes widen even as their wards began to shake.

"A broom? You want me to get on a broom!?"

He extended a hand towards her, mounting the item with ease. "We can't apparate out because of the old wards here Granger. We have to get out somehow, and short of jumping this is our best bet. Jumping a hundred feet doesn't sound like a very successful plan as it is."

She worried her lip, stepping up to the item. "I'm going to fall off."

"Oh come on now. What kind of Quidditch player would I be if I couldn't handle a broom? Come on Granger, get on behind me before it's too late. I won't let you fall off."

"Yeah… I'm sure that you'll be able to keep ahold of me from in front of me."

"Fine, sit in front of me for all I care. Just get on!"

Reluctantly she mounted the broom- in front of the twit, of course- and gripped the wood as though it were a lifeline. He placed his arms around her, one on her waist and the other on the wood.

"Don't let go okay Granger?"

"Shut up and fly straight!"

He smirked at her command, kicking off just as the door behind them flew open. He picked up altitude as quick as he could, trying to get out of their firing range. Considering how quickly he was flying and how straight-up their angle was, he was fairly certain that his partner's eyes were firmly slammed shut.

A spell shot past them suddenly, reaching higher than he expected. The spell singed his shoulder, causing the blond to hiss in pain. Hermione looked up and reacted to the noise.

"I'm going to fire spells Malfoy, you just get us out of here!"

"You're going to have a panic attack or something aren't you Granger?"

"Just shut up!"

He pursed his lips, gaining distance the longer they flew. His shoulder ached as they went, and the bitter cold of night didn't help, but the spells stopped firing pretty quickly. He was more than relieved when Hermione finally stopped looking behind them, a vice grip on his wrist, and resumed once more gripping the broom as though her life depended on it.

Draco landed them in a clearly several kilometers away from their target investigation. They didn't know what to expect when they first went to track down their latest hit, but now they knew better than to go creeping around abandoned, deserted places in rural England.

This wasn't their first time doing that of course. They never seemed to learn their lesson.

"You're hurt," she said immediately as soon as she was off the broom. "I noticed the pain in your eyes when I looked back. Where did the spell hit you?"

"It's nothing Granger. We should just report back to the Ministry. A quick healing spell will do the- quit touching it!"

Hermione, known for being nosy, had resorted to searching his body herself for the place of harm. She found the tender spot on his shoulder and of course decided to poke it.

"It signed off the shoulder of your shirt and jumper and burned the flesh. I guess their last resort for not being able to catch us was to set us on fire."

"I didn't notice," he hissed, grimacing as she used a healing spell on it. "Do you know what you're doing? Last time something injured me you ran to St. Mungo's for help."

"Last time it was far more severe," she replied, stepping back only a few moments later. "There, that should feel a little better. I don't know any soothing spells but there's probably something back in our cupboards at work that can soothe any aftermath aching."

"I hope so. I think it's well-deserved too- I did just fly you out of peril."

"Don't let that go to your head Malfoy," she replied with a smile, shaking her head. "Come on then, we've gone on one trip already, so let's go on one more. I have to go and write up a report of what happened for our boss to read in the morning, and you need a potion. To the Ministry we go."

"Yes, back to work we go," he muttered. "It's basically tomorrow. I should be in bed."

"It's well into tomorrow," she replied with a laugh. "Now come on Malfoy, don't be such a grouch!"

Despite her joking demure earlier, Draco noticed the anxiety in his partner as soon as they returned to the Ministry. The smile slid off her face as she began writing the report, and her teeth worried her lips the longer she wrote. Soon after that began, the action was replaced by constant knuckle cracking. And Hermione very rarely cracked her knuckles.

She only did that when she was extremely uncomfortable. After quite a while as partners, he had learned a thing or two about Hermione.

"Was flying that bad?" he asked, fiddling with the quill on his desk. She was so started by his voice after the silence that she almost jumped out of her chair.

He knew her well enough to know that basic combat wouldn't alarm her in the slightest. But flying? He may as well have dangled her off the highest floor at the Ministry. He was lucky she didn't have a panic attack and fall off the bloody thing or something.

"You know how I feel about it," she replied, composing herself. The brunette didn't bother denying what he said, just as he knew she wouldn't. She was smart enough to know that he already knew her fears. "But it was our only escape. I did what I had to to stay alive."

"So I'm guessing that I can't talk you into taking some flying lessons?"

"The next time I get on a broom Malfoy, it will be because of another near death experience. I will never get on one just for the fun of it."

"What a shame," he replied, shaking his head. "You wouldn't believe how amazing it can be to soar."

"You wouldn't believe how absolutely terrified I am."

"Fair enough. But Granger, if you ever decide flying is something you want to take up give me a ring. I'll be more than happy to comply to teaching you."

"Oh you just want to see me get all panicky again."

"Not at all. I think flying is one of the major things a wizard or witch should know. It can get you out of situations like earlier for example."

"Well, I had you around to save my arse that time."

"But what if I hadn't been around Granger? What if I was really hurt when that spell hit me? What then?"

Her grip tightened on the quill, and Hermione had to pause and take a moment to steady her breath. "I guess we'll never know. I don't know what I would've done if the roles were reversed. We very well might've died if I had to be the one flying us to safety."

"Let's put that to the test sometime then, shall we? We'll see what you can really do with a broom sometime."

"Malfoy, on a serious note, I hope that never happens. For the sake of both of our lives, I hope I never have to be the one to fly us to safety."